The Not Saga of Luke TysonShan
by Windypetals
Summary: Luke Tyson is a normal boy, until he meets Darren Shan the Fourth, captain of a pirate ship. Please R&R if you wish and have the time to .
1. The Beginning of the Middle

**Dedicated to one of my best friends, Jason, and my cousin, Sarah.**

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**Oh, almost forgot. My friend who is totally awesome, but just doesn't know that I think so, Brandon.**

**And...well everyone else that has taken their time to read this.  
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**Hope you like it =D  
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Chapter One

A story always starts with a beginning. Never in the middle or end, that would be horrifically terrible.

Well too bad. This story starts in the middle.

Mind you, I suppose that this is considered a beginning.

I also suppose I should mention that the two main characters.

One is Luke Shan, even though I suppose that you should know this already. Luke was a normal kid, dark brown hair, really blue eyes, fair height and strong.

Well, that all changed when Luke turned ten.

The second main character for a time is named Alexia Leaf, or otherwise known to by many people as Princess Alexia. She is the daughter of the Queen of Flora Peak. She was fairly normal as well, although a bit spoiled at times.

Now we will begin with the middle, when Luke was sixteen. Princess Alexia will come in later. The end will be the end. Don't worry. Or maybe the end will be the beginning. O.o

~Part I~

Luke Shan

"Stay here, Luke, we can handle this!" The captain, Darren Shan the Fourth, told me.

"But I want to help! I've been on so many raids before I can-"

"No. You're staying here. Trust me, we need someone to look after the ship while we're gone. We'll take you on another raid another time." And with that he left with the rest of the crew. The crew looked at me with sneers and snickers.

One of the crew members, Scarface, laughed meanly out loud as he tossed around his short sword. "That's right _cabin boy_. We'll take you another time when it's less _dangerous _for you handle. Try not to break anything, if you can manage it."

The others laughed as I turned red with embarrassment.

I snarled to myself once they were all gone. Now I was mad that I had shown pity to Scarface before when I first got onto this ship. The captain was the only one to actually call me by my real name. The rest called me Cabin boy.

Storming back to my small cabin, I flopped down on the bed. Nothing ever happens on the ship when we go on raids.

I stared at the many shelves attached to my wall. Each one was lined with something that we had taken from a raid and each had a significant story.

I was sixteen already. I had learned all of the fighting moves from my pirate comrades and even had my own sword that I could beat half of the crew with. So why couldn't I have gone on the raid?

"Luke, this is a very serious mission. We are raiding a part of the Queen of Floral Peak's land. If we get caught, we all die, do you understand?"

Aka, he thought that I would mess up the whole thing.

Well, there was no use in mopping all day.

_I need some meat…_ I thought, getting up and slowly made my way to the cooking side of the ship. Might as well eat since I'm here all alone, I decided.

~Part II~

Princess Alexia

"Stop Princess! Come back here right now!"

_As if._ _I was finally free!_ I ran as fast as I could out into the open. The maid's attempts to stop me epically failed. Mama was out somewhere and had left me with a maid.

I giggled all the way while running through the forest. Everything around our house was pretty much ours, and since my mother was queen, she had power over everything right? That's why I wasn't worried about anything. Nothing could hurt me even if they tried, I thought.

Boy was I wrong.

"Whoaa! A ship!" I cried in delight when I reached the beach side, northwest of the house. "Mama never told me she got a ship!"

Climbing on, I could smell a smell of foul smelling beer, but other than that this was the coolest thing ever! It seemed to be deserted at the moment as I made my way through all of the cabins, opening doors and peering inside.

One room was smaller compared to the others but had shelves against the walls with a lot of different items on it. I went up to the shelf and stared at it. There was one particularly interesting object that caught my attention, a very small shiny silver ring on the very top shelf that I could only see if I stood far away enough.

_Mama is crazy for buying all this stuff. _I grabbed the chair from the desk sitting in the corner and carefully climbed onto the chair. Mama always told me not to climb on things since I was five, but that was two years ago and probably wouldn't matter now.

"I got it!" I laughed out loud, proud that I didn't hurt myself in the doing. I spoke way too soon. Suddenly the chair started to tip, and I lost my balance reaching for anything that could stop my fall.

The closest thing was the shelf below and I grabbed it. Not until I did, did I realize that it was loose and fell, all of the items on it falling to the floor. I screamed in surprise, falling on my bottom.

Gathering myself as quickly as possible, I ran out of the room and onto the deck (Older Sister number one had read me stories about ships before, so I knew what a deck was) clutching the ring hoping to tell Mama before she found out about the broken shelf, when someone grabbed my shoulders violently.

"Just where do you think you're going missy?" The person holding me snarled and spun me around. I screamed.

I couldn't stop my staring. He had several scars running down his face in all angles, crooked teeth and horrible breath. A bandana-like thing held his greasy hair back and he smelled of something rotten. He smiled, making it even worse.

"Ahha, that's what they do…" He looked down at me with a hard stare. "What are you still looking at? And is that a ring from our ship, girl?" I immediately looked down in embarrassment. He laughed his hard laugh and smiled at me like when a vampire is about to drain his victim of their blood. "Just wait until I show you to the captain. He conjure up a very nice punishment for you."

At that moment, I realized that I had boarded a pirate ship.

A bunch more pirates came back from the raid on Mama's house. I only figured that out by the insane chatter back and forth from the pirates.

"Say goodbye to your little home, darling." The pirate that caught me before said softly into my ear but menacingly. "You're never going to see it ever again."

"No!" I thrashed about but couldn't get away from his grasp. "Let me go!" Sobbing now, wishing I had never come aboard and listened to my maid as we took off, leaving the shore line.

He dragged me by my hair towards one of the bigger doors and threw it open. A few people were already standing inside, chatting to someone whom I presumed was the captain.

"Sir, this little brat was trying to steal from us while we were on the raid." The scar-faced man reported. "Can have her as a _pet_?" The way he said it made it sound like a doll.

"Please…please don't hurt me." I whimpered, afraid to look up.

"Bring her to me." The captain's voice boomed out, silencing everyone else.

The man that held me threw me at his feet. "Move."

I slowly got up and walked up to the captain. For some reason, everyone was staring at me, including a fair haired boy who seemed to be the youngest of the group.

The captain's two strong arms grabbed me by my waist and placed me on his lap. I looked up dumbfounded at his understanding brown eyes. Unlike his mates, he was well groomed.

"Everyone, leave." He ordered.

"What? But we want to-"

"Leave. Now."

The rest of the crew left without question.

"Did they hurt you?" He asked me gently once they were gone.

I shook my head and lied. "Not really."

He touched my cheek softly. "Where did a beautiful young girl like you come from?"

"I thought that my Mama owned his ship." I admitted, tears springing into my eyes. "It was my first time out by myself 'cause the people won't ever let me outside, and I was really excited. My Mama is the Queen of Flora Peak."

He nodded. "Ohh. That make sense."

"Will I ever see my home again?" I whispered to him.

"Of course. But it might be in a while though. We're travelers you see? We go in a circle around the Oriole island just to hit our deadlines." He told me.

"Oh." I looked down.

"Hey, it will be ok. It won't be that long and you can learn all sorts of skills on the ship. I'll let the other knows about you thought. Don't worry. They always treat people like that." Said the captain. "But I suggest that you should stay by my side most of the time, just so that I can look after you.

"Oh…ok!" The captain seemed nice enough. "But where am I going to sleep?"

He nodded towards a door behind his chair. "I could get you a room. We do actually have showers, though some don't really prefer to have showers."

I smiled a little bit.

"How old are you, kid?" The captain asked suddenly. "And what's your name?"

"I'm seven, and my name is Alexia. What's your name?" I said, curiously.

"Most people just call me captain, but I'm actually known as Darren. Darren Shan the Fourth that is." He laughed. "Usually anyone who boards my ship inherits my last name, but I think that you should keep yours."

I brightened. "Ok!"

"Come here." He ordered, standing up and leading me to another door. "This is the weapons room. I'm going to equip you with one in case you ever need it."

"A sword?! Mama told me never to touch those." I hesitated.

Darren Shan the Second gave me a look. "When you're on a pirate ship, you will need one. Trust me."

~Part III~

Luke Shan

The captain showed a surprising nice side of him to the girl that showed up on that ship. I'm still surprised that he hadn't gotten mad at me for letting a trespasser onto our ship.

Mind you, most of the crew blasted at me at dinner time, although they knew that it was better that I hadn't found her, or she would have been dead and thrown off the boat by now. As I helped serve the food, they kept bugging me about it, driving me slightly insane.

Also, for some reason one of my shelves in my room fell down. I didn't mind much though since I have plenty of time and didn't want to hear about how great the raid was.

One of the nicer pirates, Oswald, saved me a small diamond trinket that he had picked up from the Queen's room for me to place on my shelf. He gave it to me when I had gone into his room to help clean up stuff.

After straightening everything out, and then fixing up my room, I suddenly realized that it was midnight already. It wasn't too late to visit the captain for my daily visit to tell him what I had done today.

I knocked on the door and then opened it when he didn't answer.

I was utterly shocked at what I saw. The small girl that had wandered onto our ship was lying on the chest of the captain, sleeping. The captain, instead of throwing her off him, was grooming her hair with a brush as she slept.

"Captain?" I asked quietly.

"Not now, my boy." He replied, when the girl stirred.

"But-"

"Don't you remember when you were this little?" He asked me.

"Yeah. Alright. I'll log in my time tomorrow." I said. Usually I have to log in how much I did every single day to the captain so that we wouldn't have lone pirates trashing the place and saying that I didn't clean it up already.

The captain nodded as the girl started to lightly snore, making faint whistling sounds. "Ok."

He waited for a little bit, and just when I thought that that was my cue to leave, he started to speak again.

"I miss the days before my pirate time." He said quietly. "I know I have already told you this once before, but I feel as if I'm getting a second and third chance to raise a child again."

I nodded slowly, not really comprehending.

"And that also brings me to why I didn't let you go on the raid toady. The real reason was that the palace was full of guards and if they caught us all, they could take you away from us and I would never see you again." He said. "You are like a son to me, and after the loss of…your friend, I can't bear to lose another youngster.

"Oh." I never thought of that. He saw me as his son?

"But anyway, you may leave now, I just wanted to make it clear."

"Oh…ok." I replied quickly exiting the room, suddenly understanding fully about what he was talking about. A while back, the captain had told me that way before he became a captain, he was living a normal life. He had a wife and they had just received a child, but not much later, the pirates raided their village and took him away from his family.

No wonder he cares for kids so much. He was actually taken away _before_ he found out that his wife was pregnant and missed the thought of taking care of children.

Fresh tears sprung to my eyes at the thought of my old friends I walked back to my cabin to catch some shut eye. Damn, how I missed him so much. And it was all my fault.

_No it wasn't. _My brain tried to convince me. _He did it for you, so live for him!_

It would be hard to sleep tonight.


	2. The Beginning of the Beginning

Chapter 2

_Now_ we will start at the beginning. Or rather, the beginning of the beginning of Luke's dream, which actually takes us to the actual beginning of this story, technically speaking, the middle of it. Good luck understanding that.

Where we dropped off from Chapter One, we hear a little bit about the past, which is actually supposed to be the beginning of Luke's pirate life. So it might have been _slightly_ coincidental that Luke dreamt about his past again, the good and bad things.

We start off in the dream in his hometown, Kangaloops when he was eight years old.

Where Luke lived was very close to the sea, when swimming was very vital for life in case you ever fell in…

~Part I~

Luke Shan

"Luke, Luke, Luke!" A young boy of the same age ran down the beach towards him.

"Huh? What is it Desmond?" Luke asked him, accidentally knocking over the sandcastle that he was building a moment ago.

"They're selling free ice cream over there just for kids! Do you want to come get some with me?" Desmond Teeny laughed, sitting himself next to his best friend.

"Ok!" Luke said, temporarily abandoning his castle and running with his friend up to the ice cream shack.

The weather was hot, and even though the shack only had eight flavours, it was better than nothing. "What would you kids like today?" The ice cream man asked them when it was their turn in line.

"Chocolate please!" Desmond answered immediately.

"And what about you?" The ice cream man asked Luke.

"Vanilla please!" He told him. Desmond was already half done his.

"Thank you!" They both shouted, running back to the sand castle.

Desmond bit into the cone of the ice cream as they walked back to Luke's sandcastle. "Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?" Luke asked him, mouth full.

"That ship in that dark cove over there!"

"Cool!" They both cried, making their way towards it. Thin sand turned into rocks and seaweed as they approached the water's edge. Luke was glad that he was wearing shoes instead of going bare-footed.

"Let's go on!" Desmond suggested once they got tot he bottom of the ramp leading up to the ship.

Luke hesitated for a moment. "I'm not sure. Let's tell mommy first."

"Good idea." Said Desmond, running back to where both of their parents we're chatting to each other under an umbrella.

"Mommy, mommy, can we go on the ship?" Luke asked his parents first.

His mother looked over at the ship. "I don't think that it's an open attraction, dear."

"Oh please mommy!" Desmond piped in to his mother.

The two mothers looked at each other and then at their own children. "Sorry but no. It's for your own safely."

"Ok…" They muttered, disappointed.

"Let's go anyway!" Desmond said with determination. "Then we'll prove to our parents that it was harmless. We can always get out at the first sign of danger." He reasoned.

"Ok…" replied Luke, still a little bit uneasy about the whole idea. True, the ship was fascinating and he was tempted to go, but there was another side of him urging him not to.

Desmond and Luke waited until their mothers went back to talking before they sneaked their way back down to the ship ramp. Desmond stepped onto the ship first and gasped with excitement. "This place is awesome!" Luke would have disagreed and suggested that they go back because it looked dangerous, but that would have been a lie.

"Common," Desmond said. "Let's go check this out!"

They continued through the ship, exploring every room with an open door. The kitchen was probably the most fun, they actually had food just sitting around on the counter on the lower deck.

"This is the coolest attraction ever! It even looks like a real pirate ship!" Luke exclaimed as they stepped into a fairly big room. That room was actually the second-pirate-in-command's room on the starboard side of the ship.

Desmond smiled widely. "I told you this would be awesome."

"Yeah. This ship must be really rich or something 'cause this blanket sheet is really expen-"

"Shh…I think I hear someone coming! Get into that closet!" Desmond interrupted.

Luke was about to object when he heard the very faint footsteps himself. The two of them crammed into the closet and then shut the door.

The place had a faint smell of beer, and the clothes weren't completely clean. Luke and Desmond ducked underneath some anyway.

After ten minutes or more – Luke didn't have his watch with him and neither did Desmond – of beening locked in a crouch with their heart beating like a gong, Desmond slowly rose out from underneath the holey shirt that had been covering his head.

"I think its safe to go-"

The door of the closet swung open with a bang.

"I knew that some uninvited guests had boarded the ship!" A man with a trillion scares on his face snickered, reaching down to grab Desmond.

Desmond screamed and tried to avoid his grasp, but there wasn't any other place where he could run. "Help! Someone help!"

"No one is going to help you, kid." The pirate laughed, dragging him out

Luke stayed hidden as he contemplated on what he was going to do. As long as they didn't find him, then he could go off and get help.

After the pirate left the room, Luke literally ran like the wind back towards the ramp, in hope of not getting caught. The ship suddenly lurched, and Luke had to lean against the wall for balance.

"No!" He couldn't help but to say it out loud as he ran up the stairs to the deck. _Please don't leave the beach, please don't leave the beach…_ He thought desperately.

Three of his worse fears at the moment came true all at once. The ship had just left the beach and he couldn't get help.

Also, a large group of pirates had just turned to stare at him.

"So, what's your names?" The head pirate asked both of them, as the other pirates gathered around them. They had tied Luke and Desmond's hands and feet together and sat them up against each other.

"L-L-Luke, sir!"

"And I suppose you have no last name." He snapped.

"Luke Tyson!"

"What about you?" He turned to Desmond, narrowing his eyes.

"Teeny! I…I mean, Desmond Teeny!" Desmond added when the captain set him with an annoyed look.

The captain smirked. "Oh really now, that's very…peculiar. And how did you boys get on my ship?"

"The-the cove! We saw your ship in the cove and was g-g-going to investigate!" Luke spoke up when Desmond didn't say anything.

The captain mocked rubbing his chin. "Interesting…now what do you suppose we should do with these two?" He said, turning to his crew.

"Make them do the dishes!"

"Make them lick the floor!"

"Make them walk the plank!"

"Kill them!"

"Throw them off!"

"Give them twenty bottles of beer to drink!"

The group hooted with laughter making the two ten year old boys shiver in fear.

"Hey! We need a cabin boy, why don't we make them cabin boys!" One of the crew shouted.

"Hmm," the captain mused. "That's a good idea…but we can only have one cabin boy, so the question right now is who is the more useful one?

The crew started screaming out random names.

"Luke!"

"Teeny!"

"Luke!"

"Tyson!"

"Desmond!"

The captain mused over this. "Hm, lets put together an ordeal, shall we? Whoever works the hardest this week will become the cabin boy."

"What about the person who loses?" Desmond whispered.

"What do you think will happen to him?"

"You…deliver him back home?"

That got a huge laugh out of the crew and captain.

"I'm not going to lose this to you!" Desmond announced to Luke, scrubbing the floor as hard as he could.

"Well me neither!" Luke shot back, scrubbing even harder.

Two hours later after finishing the top and bottom floors, Desmond and Luke sat on the opposite sides of the dinner table, glaring suspiciously at each other ignoring the pirates that mocked them. Eating as fast as they could, they knew that the only way that they could win their life was to get back to work as fast as possible.

"I bet that you can do it man." Someone said from behind him, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder as he started towards the toilets.

Another few pirates came over to Luke. "Yeah, totally. Go beat the life out of Desmond."

Meanwhile, another group of pirates approached Desmond. "Nice job man. Keep it up. We'd rather have you than your smelly friend be our cabin boy."

"Alright!" Desmond replied, then continued on with wiping the tables down but with more spirit.

The next time that they saw each other was in the captain's headquarters. "Go away! I took this spot already, Desmond!" Luke told him.

"So? I'm going to probably be cleaning up the mess that you make after you're done."

"Oh is that so?" Luke turned to him with rage in his eyes.

And for the next seven days, the best friends became greatest enemies.

Exhausted, Luke pushed open a door to one of the pirate's rooms, in hopes of cleaning the floor. To his surprise, the floor was already clean and polished.

"Hey, sorry dude, the other, like dude, came and cleaned up my floor already. Sorry dude…" One drunk pirate told him, swaying on his bed. "Why don't you like, check Oswald's room dude? It's the one on, like, the very end hidden by the door. No one ever sees."

Ten minutes later after cleaning up the throw up that that pirate had done, he made his way to this pirate "Oswald"s room.

"Hey, do you want your floor clean-" Luke looked down in embarrassment for the floor was also sparkly clean.

"Sure. I was expecting one of you to come in here sooner or later." Oswald said from the bed right next to the door. To Luke's surprise, Oswald was very clean and well groomed. Luke immediately started working on the floor, hopping to make a good impression on this pirate.

After a few minutes of cleaning, Oswald sighed. "You know what? I've seen both of you running around like dogs for the past week. Don't you think you need a break?"

Luke attempted a laugh. "Nah, its ok. They're going to choose the new cabin boy soon too. I haveta be the best that I can-whoa!"

"Sit." Oswald said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Do you know how stupid you guys are acting? Honestly, think-"

"Hello! I'm here to clean your floors! Oh never mind." Panted Desmond as he charged through the door to the end of the room. As he started to turn away, Oswald got up and shut the door before he could.

"Hey! Open the door. I have to get back to working-Hey! What are _you_ doing here?" Desmond growled, staring at Luke who was still sitting on Oswald's bed.

"I dunno," Luke said sarcastically. "Beating you maybe?"

"You know what?" Oswald interjected. "You guys are acting like a bunch of two year olds fighting for a toy. Think about what the situation is for once will you?!"

Desmond smirked. "Yeah, I know what the situation is: Luke here is being greedy."

"Ha! As if." He shot back, raising his voice. "You were the one that tried to push me off the railing when I passed the deck!"

"So? You found some poison and tried to poison my food! Thank goodness that one of the pirates on _my side_ told me about it!"

"So? You were the one that-"

"Listen to yourselves!" Oswald yelled to get their attention. "One of you is obviously not going to make it as a cabin boy, and one is. So, no matter who makes it, do you want to leave each other knowing that you were enemies with the person?"

Luke and Desmond looked at each other. It was true. They had been too busy trying to win the tittle that they completely forgot about each other.

"Now apologize!" Oswald commanded.

"I'm sorry…" Luke apologized to Desmond, but still gritting his teeth.

"Yeah…me too..." Desmond muttered.

"Why don't you two go and hang out instead of cleaning for once?" Oswald suggested, taking the mop that was in Desmond's hand.

As soon as they had left Oswald be, Desmond looked at Luke and smiled. "You know, you sounded like a sissy girl, apologizing to me like that."

Luke cracked a smile that he hadn't worn in a long time. "Yeah, you too." He hit Desmond in the shoulder. "There. That is the male version of 'sorry'."

Desmond laughed and punched Luke in the arm. "Alright. You know what?" He added after a moment of silence. "I actually really need to get some sleep."

"Yeah…"

And with that they each went to their rooms, put their head on their pillow without changing back to different clothes, and instantly fell asleep.


	3. The End of the Beginning and Middle

Chapter 3

"Soo…it seems we have come to a decision…" The captain started as the rest of the crew gathered around the two boys. "The one whom the crew and I have picked as our cabin boy will be…Luke Tyson. Sorry Desmond."

The pirates roared with cheers.

"Yeah! Kill that killer!"

"What? What?!" Luke asked, as they all agreed with each other. "What?! He's not a killer! What do you mean?" But they were too busy talking to hear him.

The ones that were cheering immediately grabbed at Desmond, violently tying his hands and feet together, ignoring the protests of pain coming from him.

"Wait!"

Desmond jumped.

"I want to say something!" Luke announced and everyone turned to look at him. "I know that this will sound quite strange but, I want to let Desmond be the cabin boy."

"What?!" The first mate that had voted for Luke, Scarface, protested.

"But he's a killer!" whispered one of the pirates, and Luke ignored him thinking that it was just an expression.

"I want him to the cabin boy because-"

"Luke, wait."

"Huh?" Luke looked over at his friend and saw a pained expression on his face.

"Ok, listen to me, Luke. When we had first seen the ship, it was you who had asked to ask our parents first. You was still holding back slightly even before we got onto this ship and I really should have listened to you." Desmond explained, his voice quivering. "…_And_ you can swim, and I cant."

"What?" The to-become cabin boy was dumbfounded. He was trying to give his friend a chance, to become the cabin boy himself and live, and Desmond was just going to refuse?

Desmond sighed. "Honestly, Luke. Think about it. You would do much better for the job. Even if you give the job to me, I won't accept it."

"But Des…" There were tears coming to his eyes, but he brushed them away. It was totally not manly.

"Accept the job, Luke. Do it for me." He said in a firm voice. "Then I can _live_ through you. Besides, you'd probably last longer as well."

"Aw, this is very touching, but seriously, who's the one that's gonna be cabin boy?" The third pirate in command asked.

"Luke." Desmond said before Luke could say otherwise.

He smirked. "Very well then. So be it." They all turned to the captain for the command to throw Desmond overboard.

The captain nodded. "Go ahead." Luke had never seen the captain so cold-hearted. "Now." The Captain said, turning to where Luke was standing. "You need to-"

But Luke was already gone to his new room, burying his head into the pillows as he sobbed for his friend for the rest of the day.

"How could you have been so mean to him?!" Luke cried as the captain tried to pry the pillow off of his head. "I HATE YOU!"

"Shut up for once will you and let me explain." The captain growled, growing in patient. "I never voted for anyone. Besides, he was caught trying to drug all of the pirates' drinks if you didn't know that before."

"WHAT?! DESMOND WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" Luke sprang up and stared at the captain. "What are you talking about?"

"After you guys had talked to Oswald, I know this because I talked to him," The captain added quickly before he could ask questions, "Desmond was caught spiking some of the drinks."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "And you _saw_ this happen?"

"Not really. A few of the pirates choked on the drinks at dinner time which Desmond was arranging. I asked him where you were and he said that you were sleeping because you had worked the hardest."

"Desmond wouldn't do that…" Luke contemplated.

"Well I'm sure that _someone_ had spiked the drinks. As soon as the word got around most of the crew had changed their votes."

A knock came from the door. "Captain? Are you in there? It's me, Teach."

"Come in."

"Ah. I thought that you would be in here." Teach said to the captain while giving Luke a nod of acknowledgement. "I have something important to tell you. It involves…Desmond."

Luke's ears perked up. "What is it?" The captain asked.

"You might not believe me, but I overheard some of the crew just now talking about how TT had done an excellent job of framing Desmond because he thought that he had some connection to Desmond Tiny."

"WHAT?!" Now it was the captains turn to shout.

"Yes I know. I was just as surprised as you."

Captain Shan's head was racing with thoughts. "No, that can't be true. TT is the first in command for the first wave in a raid. He wouldn't do something like that, I know him too well."

"It's true."

"I'm going to talk to him right now!" Stormed the captain out of the room.

There was a moment of silence as Teach and Luke stared at each other.

"Who's Desmond _Tiny_?" Luke asked with a pale face.

"You'll soon find out if the captain finds that TT is guilty." Said Teach.

"What does 'TT' stand for anyway?"

"Thief-Trait. TT is sly and just as clever as a fox. He was known for breaking into banks and stuff before he boarded this ship."

"Oh. Why is your name Teach?"

Teach smiled. "Children are always so curious. I teach people things like sword skills and mapping skills."

"Ohh. What's-"

"More questions later, child." He said, rushing him out of the room. "I hear commotion on the deck."

I woke up with a start. I knew the rest so well. TT was actually the one who had drugged the drinks and was later thrown overboard when they entered shark infested waters as well as the ones that had followed him.

The Captain had blown up to the rest of the crew and warned them of the consequences that could happen if they tried something like that again with any newcomers.

As I lay in my bed eyes closed, I couldn't stop thinking about how if TT hadn't done that, Desmond might have actually been the one alive now instead of me.

Or maybe we both could have been alive.

~Part II~

Princess Alexia

"Alexia…Alexia…?"

"Mmmm?" I muttered, still curled up.

"I'm going to go on a raid with my pirate friends ok? We'll be right back. There's some food on the table if you want some." Said the captain softly into my ear. "Make sure that you don't go out of this room ok? It could be dangerous."

My brain comprehended, but it was like a dream.

"Mmmkay…"

A few hours later (there was no clock on the desk next to the bed like there was in Mama's room) I woke up and nearly freaked out, but then remembered that the captain had gone on a raid.

Yawning, I rolled myself out of the warm bed and nearly tripped over a bunch of folded clean pirate clothes and my small sword on the floor.

I held the clothes up to the light like mama always did and then tried them on. They fit quite perfectly.

"Hmmmm." I was looking around for a mirror when I accidentally kicked the silver ring that I had actually stolen (I know that now) across the room. "Opps!"

Walking over and then picking it up from the floor, I cleaned it with my shirt then ran out the door, completely forgetting about the captain telling me not to.

"A ha!" I smiled, happy that I remembered which room I had gotten the ring from. Opening the door slowly, I saw that the curtains were still drawn close, making it a little bit hard for me to see.

I found the chair that I had pushed into the desk the other day and pulled it out again, bringing it over to the shelf and stood more carefully on the stool this time.

Someone had done a good job of putting everything back where it was suppose to go, because there was a little empty space where I had taken the ring on the shelf.

I reached up and stood on my tippy toes, trying to place the ring back into that space…

And I did without falling.

"Yess!" I cheered in my head and softly out loud while I got down from my chair. Picking up the chair again, I slid it back into the desk as quietly as I could.

I was feeling really happy with myself when I glanced at the bed and saw two dark eyes staring back at me.

I backed away and screamed in surprise as the shape raised itself from the bed and stretched.

"You must be the girl that boarded the ship yesterday." He said in monotone, standing up. It was still dark and I couldn't see very well.

"I'm sorry I broke your shelves!" I whimpered as he came closer to me.

It was hard to tell if he was angry or not. "Oh. No problem, you didn't break them. It at least gave me something to do." He was coming right at me but then turned towards the curtains at the last second and flung them open instead. Now I could actually see him. He had dark brown short flat hair and handsome blue eyes.

"Why aren't _you_ on the raid today?" I asked him as he went back to his bed and sat on the edge of it.

"Because the captain doesn't want me to get hurt in this raid, cause it's more dangerous than the others. Why don't you sit down?" He asked, patting the part of the bed next to him. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." He laughed gently.

Cautiously, I approached him, waiting for him to spring up and hit me or something. He didn't.

"What's your name?" He asked, once I sat down.

"Alexia!" I said maybe a little bit too excited. "What about you?"

"My name is Luke." He got up again and went over to his shelf. Plucking the ring that I had replaced carefully back on the shelf without using a chair, he brought it over back to me. "Why did you take this ring?"

I looked down and tears sprung to my eyes. Older sister number one always told me that I could never handle guilt. "I'm sorry…"

"No, no, no problem at all. I'm just curious." Luke said, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Hey, it's ok, don't cry."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I wish I had never gotten on to this ship and meet pirates and take ring and…" My grammar started to fail and I burst into tears against my will.

"Awww…Shhh, shhh, it's gonna be ok." He placed the ring on the table and picked me up on his knee like the captain and let me cry on his shoulder. Amazingly he didn't smell too bad.

"I'm scared…" I whispered.

"Don't be. We'll get you back home soon. And if you ever need help, you come to me, ok?" He said kindly while rubbing my back.

"Ok…" I replied as he handed me a tissue from the table. "Hey, just curious, but where you do get all of this stuff all over the ship?"

"Sometimes we raid a grocery shop but we don't take much. Only the usual, tissues, towels, shampoo, soap, toilet paper, sometimes a bag of chips or two…" He smiled. "But we try not to make a big mess. Well, I do. That's usually why I'm sent in to grab the stuff cause I look young enough."

I looked at him with wide eyes, tears fading. "So you _steal_ the stuff?"

"Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but I actually pay for the stuff myself. See this box?" Luke reached underneath his big pillow and pulled out a small box. "I always cash in some of the money that the crew divides after a raid, and whenever we visit some place, I use the cash so I can buy the things."

He lifted the lid and I saw a bunch of shining coins. "The captain wouldn't mind. If the crew knew about this I'd probably get yelled at." He chuckled.

"But you're doing a good thing!" I protested.

"Pirates are not supposed to be good, dear." Luke ruffled my hair.

"But-"

Luke interrupted. "Wait. I think that they're coming back from the raid."

"That's-Oh! I was supposed to stay in the captain's room, I gotta go!" I waved good-bye to my new friend and ran down the small hallway into the captain's room.

Hopefully I won't get into any trouble for disobeying the captain.

Little did I know that it would get much worse than I thought it would.


	4. Oh hot dame, you're in a jam

Chapter 4

The pirates got back from the raid, they got their money, cleaned things up a bit, set sail, yadayadayada, have a nice day.

Wrong.

~Part I~

Alexia Leaf

I ran into the captain's room and flopped down on the bed only seconds before the door flung open.

I gasped. "Captain! Captain what happened?!" But he didn't answer.

"Move, girl!" The pirate with the scars told me, as I flung myself off the bed. He carefully placed the unconscious captain down where I was sitting a moment ago.

"What's wrong with him?" I cried, staring at the un-responsive captain.

"Someone very smart had calculated when we'd get here, so they had a trillion guards guarding the whole place." One of the other pirates that had helped lug the captain inside said while the other chatted to themselves. "He got severely injured trying to get us all back without getting caught. He's one good captain."

Scarface nodded, agreeing with him.

"We need to get him a steak!" One of talkative pirates said quietly to another.

"No, that won't work! Steak won't be make any difference at this point. What he needs is the real stuff." Objected a black-haired pirate.

There was more whispering going on that I couldn't hear as I went over to the captain to look at him.

"Captain?" I poked his arm gently. His extremely pale face and body didn't move. I climbed onto the huge bed and sat next to him, grabbing his hand. It was cold.

"He's going to die if we don't get him some soon!"

"But where are we going to get some? There are no…_mortals_ around here! We'll have to let him have a silent death or something."

The pirates continued to chatter.

"Wake up! Wake up!" I shook him lightly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A nice looking pirate with blond hair told me. "And I wouldn't stay with him tonight either. He could be dangerous."

"But-" I argued. The captain was the only one that I could really trust at the moment.

"Trust me."

***

The pirate that had warned me (his name was Oswald I think) about not staying with the captain tonight had led me into another room with a soft bed inside. I accepted it, but then woke up in the middle of the night feeling very cold.

Taking the flashlight from the table that Oswald had given me, I brushed my hand across the wall, guiding me, as I made my way back to the captain's room.

I opened the door slowly without a creak. "Captain?"

"Alexia…"

"Captain!" I ran toward the bed closer to his voice.

"I'm sorry Alexia…forgive me…"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I slowly stopped as I approached his bed.

It was empty.

"What?" A cold shiver ran down my back as I whipped around, looking around furiously for the captain's face. "Where are you?"

"I'm…so sorry…" the whisper came right into my ear and I didn't have time to turn around again.

"HELP!" I managed to cry out before a cold hand covered my mouth and lifted my chin up, exposing my neck at the same time. Another hand wrapped both my hands against my body so I couldn't move. "MMMF!!"

"So hungry…"

***

Luke Shan

I couldn't sleep. Something was bothering me, but I didn't know what. I felt like a girl with teenage drama problems, only I didn't know what about.

Glancing to my right, I saw the ring that that girl, Alexia, had taken before on my table. The ring was one of the first items I had received on my first raid as congratulation.

But there were many other more interesting things on that shelf that she must have been looking at besides the ring, like the hard old piece of wrapped gum on the far left, or the small teddy bear stuffed animal that I the captain gave to me when I was eleven.

_Where is she sleeping now?_ I thought to myself. I had heard about the captain's fatal injuries from one of the crew members when I was toweling down the dinner tables.

Sighing, I got up and stretched. A little walk would help I suppose.

I walked towards the captain's room to check on his status, not sure if someone else had before.

As I placed my ear against the door to see if anything was happening in there, I heard a very odd scuttling noise. "Help!" I heard a feminine voice cry from inside.

My eyes widened. It couldn't be Alexia could it?

***

Princess Alexia

I glanced to my right –the only direction that I could glance at- and saw the captain's face staring me down. He roughly pushed my head down onto his shoulder, pulling my neck muscles.

Struggling against the captain's grasp, I suddenly felt something sharp and thin cut into my neck. It was the nail of his smallest finger that was holding my mouth shut. I winced even though I found it strange that it didn't hurt.

_Please stop! You're scaring me…_ I pleaded in my head as he leaned down towards my neck.

"It will be over very soon…" He murmured, placing his mouth over my wound. "It will _all_ be over…" I squirmed but knew I could do nothing to escape his warm tongue as it licked the blood off the base of my neck.

My breathing became subtle and my vision became blurry.

Last thing I remember before losing consciousness was the door bursting open and someone screaming my name before I hit the ground.

~Part II~

I breathed in deeply. The scent of something salty, probably the sea, still lingered in the captain's clothing.

_Must have all been a dream…_ I thought to myself, turning myself on the bed so that I was closer to the captain. _Mmmmhmm, must have only been a dream…_

"Alexia, Alexia? Are you awake?"

_Wha-_ "Wha…Huh?" I opened my eyes and found my eyes staring into something very blue. I shook my head and focused. Oh, it was Luke's eyes.

Wait, Luke's _eyes_?!

"What?!" I bolted upward, hitting my head on the top bunk of Luke's bed. "Ow. Where am I?"

"You're in my room." He said, pulling himself up against his pillow. Only then did I notice that his shirt was stained with a dark red-ish brown stain all down the front.

"Is that coffee?" I asked. Papa always drank coffee in the morning and then would swear sometimes if he got it on his very very expensive suit thing.

He looked down. "Oh. No, that's not coffee."

There was a moment of silence. Was he going to tell me or was I just not suppose to ask?

I decided to break the silence first. "What is-"

"It's blood." He interrupted, knowing what I was going to ask.

"Blood…" I thought for a second. "Holy cow, that's blood?!? Who-"

"Yours." He butt in again.

I paled. "What..what? Why?"

He took a deep breath in and sighed. "Do you remember anything from last night?"

I swear I was probably was white as flour. "That…that was real?"

Luke nodded solemnly.

"Is the captain a…a…vampire?" I whispered, knowing what the answer was already, but hoping that maybe it wasn't.

"Yes. Everyone on this ship is a vampire, actually. The captain knew that you'd probably be in shock so he let me take you in for the night so I could explain when you woke up."

"Are…are you a vampire?" I whimpered, backing away from him until I reached the end of the bed.

"I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, I am." He told me, looking straight into my eyes. "But before you go off screaming and jumping off the railing, I just want to let you know that there are four types of vampires on this ship."

My eyes widened and I backed up. A spilt second after I backed up I remembered that I was at the end of the bed. I yelped and shut my eyes, expecting to hit the floor hard, for the pain to come, but it didn't.

Opening my eyes very slowly, I found Luke's arms wrapped around me, still holding me at a 45 degree angle off the bed side. He pulled me towards himself and sat me beside him. "Be careful." The vampire said to me gently.

"But-but-you were on the other side of the bed!" I exclaimed in confusion. "How did you…?"

"Vampire traits, dear. Now, would you like to hear about the four types of vampires or would you rather jump off the ship now?"

"Maybe, hear about it first?" I swallowed.

"Alright. The first type is the kind that the captain is. That type is called a "Full vampire." Understand?" I nodded. "Full vampires need blood once every month to stay healthy. For every ten years, they only grow one year older."

"They grow? I thought that vampires were immortal!" I protested. He shook his head and told me they weren't.

"The second types of vampires are "Three moon Vampires". They're fairly new to this world because usually one vampire goes from a Half vampire straight to a Full vampire. Three moon vampires are like…3/4 vampires and they are usually made that way because they are more experienced than a Half, but not as trustable to be made a Full. They also grow one year per seven and a half years."

Luke thought for a second. "Oh, and usually, Three moon Vampires are a little bit snobby and think highly of themselves. Scarface, the one with a messed up face? Yeah, he's a Three moon Vampire."

I didn't bother asking questions as Luke continued. "Half vampires are…well, are Half vampires. They're usually taken in as apprentices for the Full vampires and can't blood other humans. They ask a lot of questions though, and usually think that vampires are ones with fangs and stuff." He laughed at the look on my face.

"Don't worry. The thing about us having fangs is bull.

"But anyway, they grow at twice as fast as Full vampires. I'm sure you can do the math."

I nodded.

"Now here's the interesting thing about the fourth type of vampire. They're called, yup, you got it, One moon Vampires. They're usually the much, much, younger ones or they don't exactly want to be vampires in the first place, but need to be made something or they wouldn't be accepted. You will find One moon Vampires more human like than the rest. They don't need to feed on human blood at all. One dose of animal blood every four months will satisfy them."

"Are you a One moon Vampire?" I asked.

He smiled. "Yes. The weird thing about us is that we grow a year every two years instead of two point five for some reason. You have to be very careful when trying to get a One moon vampire, because if you give them too much of a Full vampire's blood, they'll become a Half. So One moon vampires always get an under-dose of the blood, thus the two years."

Since I was half asleep at the time, all I comprehended was, "Blood, blood, Half, Full, blood, moons, blood, blood…"

"Arg, this is worse than Madam Octan's social's lesson." I said, holding my head in my hands. "She's so fast when teaching and she never likes to leave her home; we always have to come to her house for my lessons. She also seems to be awake in the middle of the night, and my sisters and I always joke that we think she likes to eat flies." I laughed. Luke raised an eyebrow.

"You know what, you're right. Enough talking. Its morning and we should really speak to the captain. He told me that as soon as you got up, I was supposed to take you to him, but oh well." Luke flung himself out of the bed and examined himself in the mirror.

"I'm glad that you're a One moon Vampire." I told him, standing up on the wooden floor.

"Really?" He cocked and eyebrow at me again and smiled. "Do you think I need to change?" He looked at himself and brushed his hair with his hands in the mirror.

"No! I like you as a One moon Vampire." I nodded furiously. "At least I knew one person that doesn't have the need to suck my blood."

"I disagree. I really have to change his shirt." He laughed as I joined him by the mirror. "I was talking about my clothes, silly, but I'm glad that you think I shouldn't become a Half." He ruffled my hair.

"Ohhh…" I laughed as well, all tension gone.

For the moment.


	5. We arrive, in the am

Chapter 5

~Part I~

Luke Tyson Shan

As I knocked on the captain's door, Alexia clung to me like velcro.

"I don't want to go in." She hesitated, hiding behind me.

"Don't worry. I'll be with you all the time." I replied. "Captain, we're here."

"Come in…"

Alexia made this whimpering sound as we entered the room. The captain was lying against his pillows on his bed, a pile of books by his side. His face was less pale than the last time I had seen him. Half the reason was because he had been resting. The other was because he had just had fresh mortal blood as we all know.

"Alexia…" He whispered, patting the bed beside him gently, asking her to sit. "Please…come here and let me explain…"

Alexia remained frozen on the spot and her big eyes easily told him that she didn't want to sit. Her small hands tightened around my arm. The captain looked at me with a helpless look.

"Alexia, it's ok, he won't hurt you. I'll be right here all the time, I promise I won't leave you." I tried to reassure her but she shook her head. "If I sit with you with the captain will you come?"

Alexia looked away, contemplating. After a while she looked up at me and nodded slowly.

"Ok, common." I told her, tugging her a little bit.

I sat myself on the bed, opposite of the captain so that she would have to sit next to him instead of using me as a human shield.

The small girl hesitated when she got to the bedside, and I honestly couldn't blame her.

"Alexia…" Pleaded the captain when she didn't move again.

Cautious, she pulled herself onto the bed, and then scrambled over towards me. The captain yawned and shifted in the bed.

"Luke! _LUKE!_" She screamed, picking up her pace, thinking that the captain was probably coming after her. She cannon-balled into my arms. "Please, please dont…Oh…" She said when she realized that the captain was still sitting down.

"Oh Alexia, I'm so sorry." You could tell that the captain was sorry by the hurt look in his eyes. "I never meant to hurt you…but…I'm a vampire. There are four types of vamp-"

"Yeah…I know, Luke told me…" She said, but it was muffled since her face was in my chest. Literally.

"He did?" the captain didn't look surprised. "Well anyway, you don't have to come, but please just listen. I want to tell you that you saved my life. You're a hero."

Alexia looked up in surprise and stared at him. "I did? I am?"

He nodded. "At the state that I was in, nothing could have saved me. If you hadn't boarded this ship, I'd be dead."

"But…but…I don't want you to be dead!" She protested, turning around and sitting in front of me, staring at him.

"Even though I hurt you?"

"Well…you were really nice…I suppose…" she eyed him suspiciously.

He sighed. "Yes. I apologize for my…actions yesterday again. Will you forgive me?"

"Mmmmmm..." Alexia looked up at the ceiling, in thought. "Mmmmmmkay…"

"Thank you so much." The captain said, relief flooding his eyes and his face. "Hug?"

"Mmmmm…kay…." She slowly got up and crawled over to the captain.

"I love you…" The captain whispered into her ear as she curled up next to him like nothing happened.

While they talked softly to each other, I went into a thinking state.

_I suppose that's why the captain loved kids so much. They were all so innocent and forgiving. I actually couldn't believe that Alexia had forgiven him that easily. Mind you, technically he didn't _hurt_ her, and like, it didn't…_injure_ her…much… and like, well, I suppose Alexia was just frightened a lot because she hadn't seen this side of the captain. Well…anyone would have been pretty frightened. If I were in that position_-

"LUKE!"

"Huh?!" I jumped, making the bed bounce a little bit. "What? What is it?"

"Tell Scarface to turn the boat around. We're heading back to Flora Peak."

"We are?" I said, swinging myself off the bed.

"Yes. We are. Tell him that we're turning the boat around because, one, all the other places that we would have gone to would have been informed about our arrival, and the last thing we need is more injuries with Alexia on board, and two, it would be a fair time to get Alexia back home."

"True." I agreed, rushing out to tell Scar face.

~Part II~

Alexia Leaf

There was a huge silence after Luke left. I shivered.

"I'm sorry." The captain said immediately like a reflex, looking down at me.

"Are we really going back home?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Then, we're going to get you back home, safe and sound."

I felt tears spring to my eyes. "Am I ever going to see you again?"

He shrugged. "I don't know to be honest. Hey, hey, don't cry…" He placed his arm around me and held me close. "Think of it like…like…an adventure! You have to let things go you know."

I nodded slowly. "Mmmkay…"

The door burst open and we both jumped.

"Scarface is protesting!" Exclaimed Luke. "He's not turning the ship around. Apparently waves are getting high, says GreatHeart. Also, the cook wanted to let you know that they have run out of salad. Oh right, and top it all off, Teach says they're running out of toilet paper."

"Sir!" Another body rushed into the captain's room. The captain told me softly that his name was Alexzan. "We're out of meat!"

"Who's the restocker and the person who is suppose to keep track of this?" Asked the captain, obviously irritated.

"That would be Restore sir! But he's been sick for a week sir!"

The captain sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently. "Where were we _suppose_ to get more supplies?"

"In Vancove! The last place that we were in but got injured!" replied Alexzan.

"It's _Vamcover_, how many times do I have to tell you that? You need to study the geography more. Vamcover, Vamcover, Vamcover!" Teach strolled into the captain's study as well.

Suddenly, the all quiet place was filled with people.

"Sir, were running out of toilet paper." Said Teach.

"I know that Teach. Ok, here's what were going to do. Someone go ask Restore what we can get at Flora Peak. And please…bring this note to Scarface so that he'll turn the ship around. Ask him when we'll get there as well." The captain reached into the table drawer and quickly scribbled a note. He handed it to Luke.

"The rest of you, do with what you can. Teach, use the tissues instead of toilet paper. Tell GreatHeart to slow down the ship if those waves get any bigger. The cook can dish out some fish instead for the moment; we have a lot of fish." Continued the captain. "Now, you guys, could you please go out now?"

"Yes sir!" They chorused, leaving the room and closing the door.

The door was flung open again for about the fifth time today about two seconds later.

"Sir!"

"What is it Luke?" The captain asked, a little less aggravated now that there wasn't thirty people shouting in his face.

"Scarface is turning the ship around. He says that at about the speed that we're going, we'll arrive at Flora Peak in the morning. Teach also wants to tell you again that his students can't study the properties of tissue paper because that's different than toilet paper."

"Just tell him to examine the tissue paper."

_The Morning Following that Night_

Luke Tyson Shan

"Go shopping?! You want me, Scarface, to go shopping??! Where's Restore?" Scarface cried.

"He's sick, Scarface buddy." Whispered GreatHeart. "Don't worry. It's not that bad. Women can do it for hours."

"Are you calling me a woman?!"

"Just go. Bring some of the others with you." The captain commanded.

"Fine fine fine." Muttered Scarface.

"Toilet paper! Finally!"

Alexia clung to the captain's arm. "I don't wanna leave. You guys are the only friends that I have." She told me while the captain was ordering out orders.

"What do you mean?" I was a bit shocked. For a girl with a rich family, you'd expect a good school. Good school means more friends.

"I get home school by my sister. They're sooooo boring. My mom never lets me out either. It's sooooo boring in there all the time. I don't wanna leave…"

Ah. That explains why she was so excited to see the ship in the first place.

"It's ok Alexia. We'll try and visit you if we ever swing by here again." I told her, ruffling her hair. "Ok?"

"Mmmkay…"

"Well, that's that." The captain said, wiping a hand over his forehead. "Man, no one will ever believe how bad trying to find good shoppers are. I suppose we should get Alexia back now."

At the last sentence Alexia burst into a waterfall of tears. I was surprised to see that the captain also had tears in his eyes, and then even more surprised when I found that a single tear had bypassed my non-crying system and was rolling down my face.

"We'll visit." I told her, as she rushing into my arms and I picked her up. "I promise."

"Yes. Of course we will." Said Captain Shan, but I knew that there would be a highly unlike chance that we would. Or rather, that we _could._

"I love you…" She said to the both of us as I put her down on the ship floor.

"We do too." replied the captain, giving her one last hug. "I apologize again for my action-"

"Stop it. I've forgiven you already." She smiled a little bit.

"Oh. Ok." The captain was a bit shocked. "Luke, do you want to walk her down to her house?"

I nodded. "Sure."

She took my hand and I took hers as we walked down the ramp of the ship into solid ground.

We walked silently up to her house because we knew that if we spoke to each other, there would be another cascade of sadness.

I stopped at the gate and looked down at her. "This is probably as far as I should go. I don't exactly look the most…presentable at the moment."

"But…but…" A sad look crossed over her face.

I knelt down and grabbed her hands. "Don't worry ok. None of us will ever forget each other. Here. I actually want you to have this."

I took the ring that she had taken from my shelf from the first day out of my pocket and placed it on her thumb. She stared at it like it was a million dollars.

"Really?"

"Yes really." I stood up and was about to wave goodbye when she grabbed my hand.

"I want you to have this then." She reached up behind her neck and unhooked a necklace that I never noticed that she had before. She reached up and placed it in my hand.

"Really?" I asked her.

"Yes really." She bear hugged me. Well, at least tried to. "I love you. I hope that I see you sometime."

"Same here." I replied, thinking that my non-crying system might fail me again. "Take care, kiddo."

She managed about half a smile and then ran all the way to the door, clutching the ring to her heart as the sun started to rise.


	6. Prob da shortest ch dat u have eva read

Chapter 6

~An Epilogue That is Not An Epilogue~

Fifteen…

Years…

Later…

* * *

Yes. I'm serious. That was one whole chapter.

No I'm kidding.

Wait...nevermind.

Onward!


	7. The Marriage Council of DOOM dun dun dun

Chapter 7

"You have a message from your parents, Princess Alexia." Reported the Messenger, knocking on her door. "I know that you can hear me, Princess Alexia. Open this door right now."

I sighed and opened the door.

"Here." He handed me a nicely rolled up scroll.

"Thanks." I took the scroll from him and closed the door. "Oh brother." I said as soon as I saw who it was from.

_Dear Princess Alexia,_

_As we all know, you are now 22 years old and counting. It has been decided at this time by the marriage council that you shall be engaged to a man of your choice no later than a month from now. If so happens that you don't, we will choice a suitable husband for you. Please take this seriously, for we are not kidding._

"They can't do this to me, can they?!" I said out loud to no one in particular. Hoping that it wouldn't get worse, I continued reading.

_If you have problems finding a man, all you must do is go out your front door. We have posted up posters of your search for the best man all over town. Your parents have also gathered a few men for your approval. _

_Thanks,_

_The marriage council_

Spoke too soon. My _parents_?!? This could not be good. I folded the letter, ripped it up as small as I could, and threw it into the garbage can.

"Alexia!!!" A voice ran out from the hallway.

Shoot. It was my over-exaggerating, over-protective, over-reactive mother.

I dove into my closet, full of clothes that I never wear, and closed the door.

"Alexia! Alexia, where are you?" She opened my door with her Almighty key of Awesomeness.

I stayed perfectly still.

"Must be off trying to find a good husband!" She huffed, going out of the room.

That was a close one.

As quickly as possible, I slipped out my room door and made a run for the front door which was down the stairs. Last thing I want is my parents coming after me about whom I should or shouldn't marry. I don't even _want_ to marry at the moment!

I almost ripped the hinges off the door as I flung it open.

"It's Princess Alexia! Princess Alexia is coming out eveyone!"

"Look! Look it's her! My goodness she's sooo pretty…"

"Hey Princess! Take a look at these abs!"

I slammed the door shut. I forgot about them. What was I suppose to do?

Running back up the stairs, I ran into my room and locked the door. I went over and sat on my bed, deep in thought when suddenly a random knocking sound came from the window.

Confused, I pulled back the red velvet curtains a little bit and looked outside.

"Hey, baby girl. You're real cute."

No way. Just, no way.

"Get off my window!" I screamed, pulled the curtain closed again. Now I have guys climbing all over my house?

I opened my wardrobe. There had to be something in there that could hide me from the world.

My dark blond hair was a bit longer than shoulder length and a bit curly at the ends. My body was delicately tiny and my skin was fair. Obviously I'm not wearing a dress.

"Hmmm…" I mused, picking up a neat brown cowl that was given to me for my 17th birthday. At that moment it was way too big for me to wear, but now it should be just fine. I tried it on and it fit perfectly.

Going over to the large polished mirror hanging by the expensive maple drawer where I kept all of my gifts of the such, I examined myself in the mirror.

"Village-y normal enough." I supposed, flipping the hood over my head, about to turn around. "Whoops!" Almost forgot to tuck in my hair.

"Back door, back door…" I tried to remember where it was located in the house. Usually I only use the front door, and so does the rest of my family. "Ohh yes."

I went through the maze of hallways until I found the back fire exit door. There were so many other doors that I could have used, but this one was the farthest away from the crowd.

"I wonder when she's going to come out!" One eager young man squealed when he had gotten word that I had opened the door. I passed the huge crowd as fast, but as slow and normal as I could. If only the fence had more than one entrance/exit.

"Oops! Sorry." Someone bumped into my arm as I was trying to squeeze through the swarm.

"No problem." I muttered as softly as possible.

Fresh air! What I really wanted at the moment was some smooth rich chocolate…where's the chocolate store…

"Excuse, but where are all of your chocolates?" I asked the cashier.

"Oh, they're gone. A lot of people have bought them to give the Princess." He sighed. "If I could get my son to spend a little time with the Princess, I'll sure be lucky. Apparently, she's the prettiest one of them all."

I could feel myself blush. I really needed the chocolate. "Well, do you have one more box of-"

"We're out Miss. Now, are you going to buy something or get out?" The cashier snapped.

I was stunned but then remembered that I looked like any old villager and remained calm. "What if I tell you that I am the princess?"

"And how and I suppose to know that you're telling the truth?" the cashier narrowed his eyes.

Looking behind me at the door, I made sure that no one else was going to come inside soon. I turned back to the cashier and pulled my hood down slightly.

"P...P…Princess!" He gasped, his eyes budging out. "Of…of course you may have the box! I'm sorry I didn't recognize you in that….that whatever that is! I'll be right back!"

I placed the hood over my head again as he came back from the back room.

"Heeheee…The Princess, in my chocolate store…I must be hallucinating…" He laughed nervously, handing me the box of chocolates.

"Thanks."

"Than…thank you P…Princess!"

I laughed a little bit. "No problem."

"The Princess, _The_ Princess Alexia, in _my_ chocolate store…" He was still muttering as I exited. "_My _chocolate store!"

~Part II~

"But Mommmmm!"

"No buts about it, dear. Get your butt down there and go evaluate those men!"

"But-"

"Go!"

"Fine!" I stormed past her down the stairs to the grand ball room.

A wave of gasps and _oohs_ and _ahhhs_ came from the guys waiting in line.

My father sat at the end of the room, an empty chair next to him, drinking coffee. "Dear! Oh Alexia! Over here, sit right here."

I sat.

"Now, here are some men that we have picked for you. You'll love them!"

_I highly doubt that._

One by one, men of all sorts past by me.

"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope…" I could seriously do this in my sleep. "Nope, nope, nope, nope…"

"Princess!" My father scolded me. "At least _pay_ attention!"

I looked up from my reading book that I snuck into the room under my arm. "Nope, nope, nope, nope," I looked back down, deep in a good part of the book, "Nope, nope, nope, nope…"

"Baby, you look fabulous."

I looked up for a moment.

"Nope."

And then looked back down.

"But baby girl, I have abs!"

I looked down the rest of the line. All of the guys had abs.

"That's nice."

And it was like that for the rest of the day.

Turned out that all of "Dad's awesome picks!" had abs. With the exception of one with armpit hair and a beard.

I think he snuck in.

If you don't think that's bad enough, all of "Mom's greatest guys!" looked like dad.

Go figure.

Two weeks later…

"AHHHHHHH WHY WONT YOU GUYS LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Cause, sweetie, we love you."

"THIS IS NOT CALLED LOVE! THIS IS CALLED TORTURE!"

"But I thought that all girls love guys!"

"I HATE THIS! I CANT EVEN GO OUTSIDE WITHOUT GETTING CHASED!!"

"If you just picked one, then maybe they'll stop bothering you…"

"I CAN EVEN SHOWER WITHOUT SOMEONE DUDE KNOCKING ON MY WINDOW!"

"That's because they're…wait they're doing _WHAT_?!?"

I was almost in tears as I ran out the door, not bothering to apply makeup or clock.

"LEAVE. ME. ALONE!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, then slammed the door shut again.

They didn't.


	8. Hat throwing skills

Chapter 8

Wrapping myself in the now usual totally-in-fashion shreds of clothing, I ran out the back door again. In a ragged T-shirt and shorts, I had slipped all of hair somehow under a huge hat, and applied plenty of makeup. Now even I _looked_ like a guy. I didn't like it, but it was the only way.

I snuck out the front door.

Unfortunately during the weeks before, the men got smarter than they looked and found out that I was escaping from their beer bellies out the back door instead of the front, and thus made themselves welcome to the back as well.

So basically, there were men on the roof, men at the front, men at the back, men on the right and left, and even men _in_ the house. Turns out that someone also told them that I was hiding in a cowl, so that's why I was in a T-shirt posing as a male.

"Dude, you got rejected too?" Some guy with bullets of sweat all over his face from standing in the sun asked me as I passed him.

I nodded and tried to look as sad as possible. It wasn't that hard.

I literally ran like the wind all the way as far as I could from the palace as possible, taking breaks every few minutes. I ended up on the other end of town, near a cliff side with a fence around it to protect people from falling off. One bench stood near the edge, for people to sit on and admire the view.

Sitting down, I buried my head in my hands, trying to hide my sobs. A few more days of this, and I swear I would jump off that cliff down to the rocks below.

Most people thought that being a Princess was great, but it wasn't so great. I would give anything just to switch places with a normal maiden and do house work.

Why couldn't the marriage committee just leave me alone? I hated them, and I hated them with a passion. I could find my own guy in my own time, I didn't want to be forced, I didn't want to go through this, oh why couldn't they just leave me alone??!

"Hey, are you ok?" A male voice said, coming out of nowhere.

That's when I realized that I had said the last four words of my thoughts out loud.

"Go away!" I screamed, turning away from the voice.

There was a long silence.

"Mkay." And I heard footsteps leading away from me.

I looked up. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'Mkay'." The male turned around and looked at me with big eyes. "Why?"

"You're not going to try and sweet-talk me?"

His eyes widened. "No…I'm not gay. Wait…you have a girl's voice?"

I swore in my head because I forgot, stood up, and started running as fast as possible.

"Wait!"

I didn't wait, but kept running. Pretty soon I was out of breath and had to stop just as I got to the bottom of the hill. I hid behind a tree, sat down beneath it, and started crying again even though I tried not to.

"Man, you sure can run." The out of breath male said, pulling up beside me.

_Ffffffff…fire trucks!_

"Please go away…" I pleaded. "All I want is to be left a…a…alone…"

"No you don't. If you're sad then you should talk about it you know?" He said, sitting down next to me and reaching into his pocket.

I shook my head even though I knew that he was right. I was in such a mess and didn't have anyone to turn to.

"Here, take this." He passed me a purple and red striped handkerchief. I took it reluctantly and dried my eyes with it. At least he hadn't tried to dry my own eyes himself.

"Thanks." I muttered, handing it back to him.

"Don't you need to blow your nose?"

I shook my head. "I have some tissues in my pocket, thank you though. Don't want to get your handkerchief dirty with snot. It's not…very pleasant."

He smiled and laughed. I almost went slack.

"Yeah…I know what you mean."

There was a moment of silence after I blew my nose.

"So, should I ask, or are you going to tell me?"

I thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe you should ask the questions." I replied.

"Um, ok…first, why would a princess look like a guy?"

I could feel myself blush immensely. "It was the only way that I could get away from everyone that was crowding my house." I whined.

"So like, you're actually a girl right?" He joked.

I nodded.

"May I?" He reached for my hat.

"Um…" Couldn't do much harm I suppose. "Ok…"

He carefully took off my hat, letting the whole wave of my hair fall down to my shoulders. His eyes got wide and I swear that he squeaked. "That's…that's… you're beautiful." He said quickly looking away, placing the hat in my open hands.

I blushed as well. "Thanks."

"Sooo, um," He started again, trying to resuming his normal posture, "Your name is Alexis?"

"You don't know my name?" I was pretty astonished. I thought that everyone, especially guys would have known my name by now. "My name is Alexia."

"Alexia, right. My name is Remuir, Remuir Logan." He said. "Yeah, sorry, I try not to pay attention to this stuff much 'cause I know that you get enough attention already." He looked down in shame.

I wanted to hug him. Seriously, I wanted to hug him. FINALLY someone that wouldn't follow me everyone and would leave me alone!

"Thanks for not paying attention. Really, I mean it. I've been driven nuts since the last month, and then there are these guys that stalk me, and I can't do anything, and I can't get out of the house, and they're driving me crazy, and I hate the marriage committee and my parents, and just needed someone to talk to…" I could feel more tears coming to my eyes.

My feelings must have shown because soon he had his arms around me, pulling me closer.

"It's ok, it's ok. It's normal for Princesses to cry. Am I allowed to hug you?" He asked me, looking down at me.

"Aren't you already doing that?" I pointed out.

"True." He smiled and I nearly fainted again. "Out goes the handkerchief." He pulled it out again and gave it to me. "Maybe you should keep it this time."

"Really?" I asked him. I hadn't received a gift that I actually could _use_ in a long, long time: Most of my gifts were random clothes and junk.

He nodded, and then I realized that he was still holding me. I wiggled out of his grasp and blew my nose.

"Errr, now," He started, scanning me. "If you want to _look_ like a guy, you need to _seriously_ go shopping." He laughed.

"Oh, I think I'm fine for now, thanks. I'll just…think up another disguise." I replied, tucking the hanky into the pocket of my shorts.

"Oh? Another one eh?" He grabbed my hat from my head where I had just placed all of my hair back under it. "Please tell me it won't involve one of these again?"

"Hey! Give it back!" I joked, reaching for it.

"Nuh uh." He said, standing up and waving it above his head. "You gotta get it if you want it back."

After a few failed attempts, I sighed. "Please give it back."

He smirked teasingly. "What if I say no? Will the Princess cry?"

"No." I grinded my teeth together. Last thing I needed was to go back to the house without my hat and have guys swarming around me like ants. "Give it!"

Each time, he just waved it out of my reach.

"Please?" I whined.

"No." He mocked, smiling in triumph.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, then realized just before I was going to blow up that Remiur was just like any other guy in that line up. I was only attracted to him because of his smile, and his niceness.

And then, the whole thing hit me.

I had fallen in love with a fake.

I couldn't take it anymore. Lies, all of that were lies. The whole month was a lie. _He_ was a lie.

"Fine. Take the hat." I was on the verge of more tears. "I don't need it." I turned around and started down the hill back home.

"Wait! Wait!" He called after me, suddenly realizing what he had triggered.

"Go. Away." I growled when he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Here, your hat." He said, reaching it out towards me.

"I don't need it." I hissed. "Stop following me."

"Wait!"

I shook his hand off my shoulder and kept walking. I could hear him coming up behind me again and tried to speed up, but he grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around.

I slapped him as hard as I could across the face. "I said, stop following me!"

This time it was his turn to growl. "Why, you're just a little bit-"

"Better than what you are!" I shouted, slapping across the other cheek. "Ever even think of saying 'sorry'? Huh? Bet you that that never crossed your little pathetic masculine mind! You're just like the rest of them! You're acting just like…like…like a guy!"

"I…I'm sorry." He tried to apologize, backing off.

"Too late." I said mockingly like he had before.

And that was the end of that.

~Part II~

I sat on my bed, in my silk clothes, contemplating the day. My hair was still wet from the shower, and I was feeling way too miserable and lazy to dry it. Only one more week left, and the marriage committee would chose a husband for me. What was I going to do?

_Thunk._

Hm?

_Thunk._

I ignored it, lying down on my bed, staring up at the patterned ceiling.

_Thunk, boom, thump!_

Something hit my window, bounced off and hit my curtain, then landed inside my room. I looked over and saw my hat spinning on its back on the ground. A white piece of paper lay inside of it.

I sighed, and went over to the hat. I took the white piece of paper out and read it.

_I'm sorry._

It was written in flowing red ink, with nice hand writing. I crumpled the piece of paper and threw it into the garbage can next to my desk.

"GO AWAY!" I shouted out my window, throwing the hat outside again, then let the curtain fall.

_Thunk._

_Thunk, boom, thump!_

_I'm really really sorry. You were right. I was acting like a guy. I was being stupid. Will you please forgive me? _

"NO!" I threw the hat out the window again. "AND KEEP THE HAT. WHO KNOWS? MAYBE YOU CAN SELL IT AND GET RICH AND BUY SOME BEER FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH WAYS."

There was another huge silence after I let the curtain go again and went back to the bed.

_Thunk, boom thump!_

_Please Alexia. I was wrong. I'm just trying to make it right. Please. I love you._

"YEAH RIGHT. YOU LOVE ANYTHING THAT IS FEMINE AND LOOKS GOOD."

It was a longer silence until the next note arrived.

_Thunk, boom thump!_

_I love you because of your kindness. You have a good heart and are beautiful on the outside __as well__ as the inside. You can express your feelings freely and is not afraid of looking stupid. __That_ _is why I love you._

I read that note over and over and over again. No…he must be lying. He HAS to be lying. I hated him. Yeah, I hated him. Never loved him. Hate. Hate, hate, hate.

"Go away." I yelled, but not as loudly out the window, tossing the hat out agian. "…please."

_Thunk._

_Thunk, boom, thump!_

_Let me make my ignorance up to you. Let me show you what I have learned just from one experience with you. Please. Dinner tomorrow, 8pm? I will pick you up and walk you._

No! No, Alexia, say no!

"Where?" This time I waited after throwing over the hat, but another note never came.

Sighing, knowing that it was too good to be true, I let go of the curtain again.

_Thunk, boom , thump!_

_It's a secret. It's a good place though. Dress is casual. I hope that you'll like it. I'm sure that you'll will. My treat._

NO! No, no, no! No Alexia, no!

"Ok…"

_Thunk._

_Thunk._

_Thunk._

_Thunk, boom, thump!_

_Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night. I love you. Btw, I posed as your mail man and told all the guys around your house that you said that you like the quiet guys that don't come after you. _

_Love, Remiur._

I had to chuckle a little bit at that.

That explains the quietness tonight.


	9. Mr Crêpesly

Chapter 9

_He's not going to show up. Eight o'clock and fourteen seconds…He's not going to show up._

_Knock, knock, knock. _

"Princess, you have a message!"

"What is it?"

"Here you go."

I was about to rip the letter open when the messenger came running back towards my door.

"Miss, there's someone waiting for you at the front door. Says his name is Remiur. Do you know him?"

"Yes! Yes, I do. Thanks." I said in a hurry, tucking the letter into my pocket. I rushed down to the front door and flung it open. "Remuir! You came!"

He gave me a bit of a puzzled look. "Of course I came. I said I would."

"Oh yeah. Yeah ok." I blushed.

"Why, did you doubt me or something?" He raised an eyebrow and holding out his arm.

"A little bit." I said honestly, linking arms with his.

He sighed. "Yeah. I don't blame you. I'm really sorry. I was being stupid."

I didn't have anything to say to that.

He led me down the street and passed the chocolate shop, where I waved to the owner.

"Oh hello Princess!" He said jollily back to me, waving. "Come any time!"

"Of course!" I shouted back, continuing down the street.

"You like chocolate?" Remuir asked me.

"Yes." I said guiltily.

"Me too."

After a while, I couldn't bear it any longer and had to ask. "Where are we going?"

"It's a secret."

"Pleaseee…?" I whined, making my eyes really big.

He looked down at me and a smile twitched at the side of his mouth. "No. We're almost there, so don't worry."

I sighed, and continued to follow him.

Two blocks later, Remuir lead me in front of a small café like restaurant.

"The Crêpe Barrel?"

"Mmhmm." He nodded. "It's one of the best Crêpe places ever. I'm sorry that it's not as fancy as you probably eat though."

"Oh are you kidding?" I said, a bit outraged at that comment. "For once, I finally have someone take me out to a normal restaurant in my whole life! Thank you!" I hugged him.

"Oh? Why, uh, thank you too." He blushed, hugging me back. "Let's go inside."

I gasped as soon as we walked through the door. One because it was surprisingly spacious with some strange saxophone music in the back ground. Two because almost all of the seats were filled. And three, for a crêpe place, red silk curtains?

"This place is amazing!" I exclaimed while Remuir told the waiter- yes, I know, they have a waiter!- of our reservation.

"This way, please." He bowed, leading the way down to a table with a pink and red flower in the middle. A silk red table cloth was draped over and hung off the sides complemented by black wooden chairs.

The waiter pulled out my chair for me and nodded, smiling and probably thinking nice thoughts like everyone else that had turned to stare at me.

"And here are your menus. I know that you are not new here." He laughed, turning to Remuir. "So you already know how we make our crêpes."

Remuir nodded, smiling widely. The two of them had the most ridiculous grins on them that I started to get suspicious.

"Now," Said our waiter, turning to me. "We are a very special crêpe place because we are known for our spectacular way of making our crêpes."

There was a long pause. I think I was suppose to say something.

"We are the only restaurant that make our crepes with only with the crêpe batter, the crêpe maker, and a saxophone! Plus the other requirements like cheeses, green onions, tomatoes, ham, etcetera."

I raised an eyebrow. "A _saxophone_? You're kidding."

"You may watch the cook cook your meal if you like. We also serve salads and different types of fish." He winked. "It's _very_ entertaining. Well anyway, take a look at the menus, and I'll be right back to get your orders!" He said happily, wandering off to another table.

"Is this some sort of code word or something?" I asked Remuir, as I looked at the menu for a second and put the menu down to stare at him.

"Nope. He's serious. I didn't believe them the first time I heard it until I saw them do it with my very own eyes." He laughed, looking back at the menu. "I think I will have…the crêpe with the chicken, ham, bacon bits in a cream sauce with green onions."

"Where is that?" I asked him, looking down my menu.

He pointed to the place on his menu. "Right here, second page."

"Oh I see it! It sounds good. I think I'll just have the mushrooms with ham and cheese."

"Perfect. I'll wave our waiter." Remuir replied, turning around to look for an available waiter. "Excuse me, I would like to order…"

While he ordered, I took the letter that the messenger had given me before and opened it carefully. There was no return address.

_ First encounter: _

_A fight will start _

_Second encounter: _

_Beating of the heart._

_There is trust but only one will dine_

_And then there will not be another next time_

I paled slightly, but ignored it as Remuir turned back to stare at me.

"Dear, would you like to watch them make your crêpe?" He said, taking my hand in his.

I blushed, and put the thought of the letter behind me. "Ok."

He lead me behind the rest of the tables into the kitchen, where surprisingly there was no wait.

"Hello Mr. Crêpesly." He said to the cook, whom was just placing a just finished crêpe on a light green colored plate. Mr. Crêpesly didn't flinch at all at the surprise guest he had.

"Hello Remuir." He replied, and then moved his glance over to me. "And you must be the well known Princess."

I must have turned a deep shade of red like the curtains because Remuir chuckled and took my other hand. "Yes. This is Alexia."

"_The_ Princess Alexia. Well, as all guests, welcome of my kitchen of crêpes. I suppose you would like to see how we make crêpes?"

I nodded, leaning my head against Remuir's chest just in case it was a trick or something surprising popped out at me.

"We start off with the batter. The next order I have requires ham and three types of cheeses. First, you take a scoop of batter…" He grabbed a scoop spoon from the side and dumped the batter on the flat circular hot plate and grabbed his saxophone. Then he blew a low, long note and the batter seemed to move on its own as it spreader itself out thinly.

"Then you wait for it to cook, then you put this on, then this, then this." He said, rapidly pointing out food objects. After he placed everything on, he grabbed his saxophone again and blew a scale, with some hypnotic tune near the middle and a trance sounding tune near the end. The crêpe folded up on itself, wrapping itself into a roll to prevent all of the insides from falling out.

"And there you have it!" He said proudly, bowing to us after he handed the plate over the counter to be served. "Just like a telling a spider to spin a web."

I was dumbfounded as I was clapping. Where were the strings? Those thin invisible strings that no one could see?

"Cool huh, Alexia?" Remuir said, leading us back to our seats.

"Yes…it was amazing!" I took a deep breath in, and made myself look presentable as our crêpes arrived. "Mmm! These look beautiful!" I exclaimed, cutting into my saxophone-made crêpe.

"Mmhmm. Indeed." Echoed Remuir, starting on his meal. "Indeed it is. Though not as beautiful as you."

I stopped eating and stared at him.

All he did was look up and smiled his little smile.

~Part II~

"Thank you so much for bring me here. It was the best…date I've ever been on." I said, looked up shyly at Remuir. He was taking me down a different route this time because the one that we had come down before was too busy.

He stopped walking and turned to face me. "It has been my best as well. Thank you for giving me a second chance."

"Mmmmm," I said. Suddenly I started laughing out loud.

"What? What is it?"

"I'm sorry, I just remembered you throwing my hat at the window. It was very romantic." I giggled.

He raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, I was backed up against the wall of the alleyway, his face in mine. "Romantic eh?"

_Ba bum. Ba bum. Ba bum. _His heart beat in rhythm to mine and sped up as we touched noses.

I giggled some more as I gently pushed him away, but still having hold of his hands. "Let's go back home."

He chuckled. "Alright then. Home it is. Ladies first." He laughed, gesturing through the narrow alleyway with his hand when we found out that we both couldn't fit walking side-by-side.

I made my way carefully onto the other side where the alley way opened and waited for Remuir to come through. "Remuir?" I called when he didn't come for a while.

"I'm here! Sorry my jacket got stuck on something." He emerged from the dark path and laughed, taking my hand again. "Are you still hungry?"

"Oh, no, I'm very full from the crêpe. Thank you though." I answered back, starting to walk on.

His strong grip on my one hand stopped me from going anywhere. "Hm?" I responded, looking down at his hand. "Oh!" I laughed. "Come on!" I tugged kindly at his hand.

"Would you like some desert?"

"Oh, no thanks. I'm really, really full." I repeated, starting to get a little bit anxious in the almost-pitch black alley now that the moon had gone down. Blue-ish colored dim lamp posts came on.

"Well I'm not." Suddenly his eyes flashed into an evil red as he eyed my neck.

"Re…Remuir?" I let go of his hand in surprise. "What…what's happening? Is this a joke?"

I squeaked in shock as he slammed into back-first into the wall again, this time not in romance. "Ow! You're hurting me!"

"Am I now?" He chuckled hardly as if he was enjoying my pain.

"Please, stop!" I screamed, as he dug his fingernails into my shoulders.

"Mmmm…scream baby, scream…I want to hear you _squeal_ in pain and agony_…_" All hopes of the Remuir that I once knew were gone as he reached up with one sharp hand and sliced violently across my neck.

"HELP!!!" I shrieked, trying to pull away from him. Suddenly, there was a flashback in my head, a long time ago to something similar to this.

_Who saved me that time?_

Remuir placed his mouth over my wound and sucked in viciously.

_Someone saved me…right?_

I screeched and tried once again to push him away. Surprisingly, I pushed him back and he staggered. I ran, blood already leaking into my green shirt.

_No…it was a he…_

I looked behind me after running a few blocks through the dark passage ways. Where was the exit? Was I going to the wrong way?

"_You can run, but you can't hide…"_ I heard his whisper come through the wind. I decided to keep running.

Out of breath, I was still lost, and had to rest. As soon as I had recharged as much as possible for me to just walk, I got up and started moving again.

_His name…his name…_

I looked behind me for any signs of Remuir. None. As I turned back to face front again, I gasped.

One hand reached down and grabbed my tiny wrists, pulling them above my head so I couldn't get away.

He chuckled coldly in my ear. "Did you really think that you could get away from me?"


	10. Who would have known

Chapter 10

"HELP!" I cried out, as he leaned forward again.

_Name…what was his name…_

"Oh my sweet little angel. No one will help you now…" He smiled menacingly.

"Someone please help!" I called out as Remuir placed his other purple skinned hand on the base of my neck.

There was a silence as he held me up above the ground for a few seconds. The wind rushed around us but that was all that we heard.

Remuir started laughing hysterically. "Ha! Obviously no one is coming…"

He placed he mouth over the cut again and started to lick the small bit of dried blood off. "Mmmm…delicious, juicy, and _fresh_…"

_Creak… _

_BAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM_!

I was suddenly dropped onto the ground, wrists free.

"Leave. That. Girl. Alone!" I heard someone hiss dangerously.

There was a sickening stab and a howl of pain.

I blacked out.

* * *

"She's coming to! She's coming to!"

"Well _duh_."

"What's going on?" I asked, opening my eyes. It came out as "Mmmmuuhhhhh huuummmhhhh?"

"Get Shan."

"Mmmmkay."

There was a moment of silence at both of them left the room.

"Girl? Hey, can you hear me?" I heard someone ask.

"Yeah…" I nodded, and then regretted it as the world spun slightly to the left.

"Can you remember anything from last night?"

"Yeah…wait. WHERES REMUIR!?!?!?" I screamed, sitting up and ignoring the pain coming to my head.

The one that they called 'Shan' pushed me back down gently. "Hey, hey, chill. If this 'Remuir' character is the one that almost sucked the blood out of you, then he's dead."

"Oh. Oh! Oh, phew…" I relaxed. "Where am I then?"

"You're on a ship." He told me, playing with some chain around his neck. "You passed out before and we couldn't have gone to the hospital, so we had to take you back here. We're not moving yet though. What's your name?"

"I can't...remember…" I placed my hand across my forehead. "Arg, I have _the worse_ head ache ever…"

"Wait, where did you get that ring?" He asked, grabbing my hand.

"Hm? Oh this?" I asked, focusing my blurry eyes on the ring that was on my forth finger. I always wore the ring. "I got it from…wait…I can't remember. It was a long time ago….probably some random relative gave it to me."

"It's a pirate ring." He studied my face.

"It is? That's cool." I said, trying to pull my hand out of his grip.

He didn't let go. "Is your name Alexia Leaf?"

"Oh! Oh yes, my name is Alexia. Alexia Leaf." I sighed, glad that I knew who I was again. "Wait. How do you know that?"

"Don't you remember me? My name is Luke Shan. I gave you that ring when you were seven. I still wear that necklace that you gave me as well. Does this ring a bell?" He asked, reaching into his shirt and pulling out an old fashioned Leaf royalty necklace that only the Leaf Royalties wore.

_Luke…Luke…Luke? Oh my goodness, it's _Luke_!_

"That's a Leaf necklace!" I gasped, looking up into his face again. Slightly older but handsome familiar features glanced back at me.

Actually _very_ handsome.

"Your hair! It's even darker now! You have blue eyes…"

He smiled gently. It reminded me of Remuir and I shivered at the thought. "Yeah. I didn't recognize you either. Haven't seen you in what, fifteen years?"

"You haven't grown much though…" I noticed. "Wait! I remember! I remember now! You're a Two Star Vampire!"

"One Moon vampire." He coughed. "Actually, I'm about to-"

"One Moon vampires! Half vampires! Scarface, Darren Shan, Oswald! I remember! I remember now, I remember!" I turned to him, interrupting. "You're the one that saved me before!"

"Hey, hey, calm down. The end of September is nearing and we don't need to be freaked out and ruin October-"

"End of September? END OF SEPTEMBER? WHAT DAY IS IT? OW!" I said, whacking my head against the top of the bunk bed. Hm, I remember doing that before somewhere else as well…

"It's September the 30th. Relax, relax, no one is going to die-"

"IT'S THE 30th?!?!?!? OH NO!" I said, trying to fling myself off the bed.

"Hey, hey, what's the rush?" He asked me, helping me up so I wouldn't hurt myself.

"You know I'm a Princess right? Well I got a note and the marriage people want me to get married but I don't want to get married so they gave me a month to find a husband and if I don't they'll pair me up with someone and it's already the 30th and I still haven't found someone and they'll pair me up with someone really stupid like they did with my sister and now it's the 30th and I haven't found someone and…"

"BREATHE!" He ordered, picking me up like a potato sack and sat me back down on his bed. "RE. LAX. OK?"

"Let me go let me go I need to go find someone and then I-"

"Shhhh, stop it, stop it, I can't understand a thing that you're saying. Speak English please."

"Ok, ok, ok." I tried to calm myself down and explained the whole entire thing. By the time I was at the end of it I was in tears.

"What am I going to do? They're going to pair me up with someone I don't even know and it will be terrible!"

"Whoa, Alexia. Don't worry. You'll find someone." He said, hugging me tight. I looked deep into his eyes and sighed.

"And like, don't get me wrong I really really _really _like you but then you're a vampire and then my parents will wonder why I'm not growing if you change me into a vampire and then-"

He laughed quietly. "I _was _trying to tell you a moment ago that the blood of the vampire in a One Moon Vampire wears off after fifteen years. Since to blood a One Moon Vampire takes only a small amount of Full vampire blood, it wears off."

"Wait, so you're like, a human?" I asked him, amazed at this new information that I had received.

"Not yet. I will be tomorrow."

"_Really_?"

"Yes."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No."

I looked away, embarrassed.

"Why, do you want to ask me something or something?" He raised an eyebrow. "I love you, and I've missed you a lot you know."

I looked up and stared at him. "Really?"

He smiled. "Yes. And I know that I have just seen you, but you were just as charming as you were when you were little. Do you love me?"

I nodded. "Yes. Though I'm not sure if it's right to marry just quite yet. You know, some catching up and a few dates, etcetera so it's not so awkward? I'm sure I can talk my dad into making the marriage committee give me some leeway."

"Of course, of course. I didn't mean to bring up the subject and like think that I was going to just propose off the bat and like…"

"That's ok. I know what you mean." I told him as he stood up and walked me off the ship.

"Thank you. You've become smarter now that you're older. Now come on. Let's get you home."

~Part II~

Luke Shan and I sat in the very far corner of some Malaysian restaurant. Having ordered already and with the restaurant busy like nuts, we figured it would probably be a long wait until we could get our food. I decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, what have you been doing these, fifteen years that I haven't seen you?" I asked him, playing with a loose string on my sweater. My parents had asked for some leeway, and the marriage council couldn't really disagree now that I _had_ found a man.

"Well, I spent another five years on that ship, just training and raiding and stuff like that. I wasn't able to visit unfortunately because we had to keep a very low profile those five years. I'm sorry about that."

"That's ok." I said, accidentally ripping the thread off. "What else have you been doing?"

"Well, I joined this, sort of circus thing. But it's not a circus. It's like, a special circus. Maybe I can fetch you up some tickets sometime."

"Oh? That would be wonderful!" I laughed.

"Anyway, the circus like thing is called Cirque du Creak. All of its actors and performers move with no sound, with an exception of one creak. It's like…an illusion thing. One second don't you see me… creak…One second you do. It's pretty cool."

"I remember a creak happening before I got attacked by Remuir again!" I said a little bit too loudly, drawing stares. "So like, you guys do disappearing acts and stuff like that?" I piped down.

"Yeah. It's actually really fun just to watch the crowd lean in whenever they hear a loud creak." He laughed softly. "Usually something great happens after it."

"Awesome…"

"Oh yes! And I need to let you meet my new friend that I met there. His name is Erva Van."

"Erva Van? Erva Van-what?"

"Oh no, just Erva Van."

"Oh. Cool!"

"Excuse me, here is your food. Enjoy!" The waiter swung by with platefuls of food in his hands.

"Thank you." Replied Luke, and we both dug in.


	11. The End of the End

The End of the End

~The _Real_ Epilogue~

Luke took me out for a walk one chilly yet warm mid-October day, up to the hill hanging off the cliff (with a fence around the edge of course), where he said he wanted to show me something.

"I like this leaf!" I shouted up to him, showing him a small maple leaf I had picked up from the ground."Isn't beautiful?"

He breathed in the fresh scent of early October air. "Yes. Yes it is. And so is the sea, and the ocean, and everything else that nature provides..."

"Mmmmm…" I also breathed in. "Oh! I like this leaf! See, I love the colors! Do you like it?"

He quietly laughed and stroked my hair.

"Yes I do, but you are the most beautiful Leaf of them all. I love you."

"I love you too. Now what did you want to show me?" I asked him when we got to the top.

He smiled slightly.

Then reached into his pocket.

Then got on one knee.

And pulled out a little box.


End file.
